Valve stem dislodging tool



W. W. WALDEN VALVE STEM DISLODGING TOOL 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Jan. 17, 1950 Filed Sept. 26, 1947 INVENTOR. M441 A1 A/a/w LBJ 47 Jan. 17, 1950 w. w. WALDEN 2,495,040

VALVE STEM DISLODGING TOOL Filed Sept. 26 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

l atentecl an. l7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT! OFFICE 2,495,040 i I VALVE STEM DISLODGINGTOOL H Willie W. Walden,'Hugo, Okla. v Application September 26, 1947, Serial was 1 Claim.

This invention relates to valve stem tools; and has for one of its important objects the provision of simple, efiicient, inexpensive and reliable means by which the valve-stem of an automobile tire may be so backed into the tire and lodged therein, preparatory to the removal of the tire from its associated wheel or rim, as to permit the tire to be removed without subjecting the valvestem to possible damage.

To the above and other ends, the present invention contemplates a guide sleeve, one end of which is adapted to receive the outer end of a valve-stem, normally protruding from the tire by way of the valve-stem opening provided in the usual automobile wheel .rim, the valve-stem receiving end of said sleeve being adapted'to be introduced into the tire by way of said valve-stem opening, and said sleeve being provided with a displacing plunger slidably mounted therein and adapted to engage the outer end of said valvestem as the sleeve is introduced into the tire by way of said valve-stem opening, whereby said valve-stem is then backed into the tire, said plunger being associated with actuating means by which the plunger may be displaced longitudinally of itself while engaging the valve-stem and while said sleeve, after being introduced into the tire, is tilted with respect to the longitudinal axis of the valve-stem so that said valve-stem may be ejected from said sleeve under the action of said plunger and simultaneously moved thereby to an offcenter position with relation to the valve-stem opening.

' Other objects and advantages of the invention 7 will become apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view of a valve-stem tool embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmental view, showing, partly in section and partly in elevation, the valve-stem tool applied to the valve-stem of an automobile tire to be conditioned for removal from its associated wheel rim, and

Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2 and illustrating the manner in which the tool is employed to lodge the valve-stem within the tire as a final step in conditioning the tire for removal from its associated rim.

The valve-stem tool herein illustrated as an embodiment of the present invention includes a sheath-like guide sleeve [0, provided at one end with a cross handle II and at its opposite end with an outwardly flared socket-like cup l2, simulating the frustrum of. a cone and adapted to receive the outer or cap-end of a tire valve-stem I 4, such as isjcustomarily employed 'in'connection with the conventional inner tube 85, shown in Figs. 2 and 3 as confined within an automobile tire 16, mounted on an automobile rim ll, provided with the usual valve-stem opening 18, through which the valve-stem normally projects. As shown in Figure 1, the guide sleeve I!) is bent or curved at a point relatively near the cup l2, so that the straight-away portions 26 and Ziiof the sleeve adjacent the point at which it is bent or curved are disposed at an angle to each other in order that the tool may be adapted for use with any tire valve-stem, regardless of the point or the angle at which such valve-stem may projectfrom the tire while mounted on its as sociated wheel rim'. .'Within the straight-away portion 2| of the guide sleeve in, there is carried a slidable valvestem displacing plunger 22, one end of which is normally disposed in the vicinity of the juncture of the cup l2 with said sleeve, and to the other end of which is connected a guide pin 24, pro jecting through an elongated slot 25 provided in the wall of said straight-away portion and adapted to function in conjunction with said pin to prevent said displacing plunger from rotating at it is moved back and forth within said sleeve and to limit said plunger against undue longitudinal displacement.

, Carried within the straight-away portion 2!! of the guide sleeve i0, is an operating plunger 26, which is adapted to be moved longitudinally. of itself and the outer end of which normally projects well beyond the adjacent end of said guide sleeve. In order to facilitate inward movement of the operating plunger 26, it is provided at its outer end with a cross-handle 21, between which and the adjacent cross-handle H is disposed a compression spring 28, which encircles the outer end of said operating plunger and serves to retract that plunger incident to the release of any manually exerted operating force applied in effecting displacement of the operating plunger in an opposite direction, as when the crosshandles H and 2'! are grasped in ones hand and forced toward each other in opposition to the thrust exerted by said spring. The operating plunger 26 is provided intermediate its ends with a guide pin 30, projecting through an elongated slot 3! formed in the wall of the straight-away portion 20 of the guide-sleeve l0 and adapted to function in conjunction with said pin to prevent said operating plunger from rotating as it is moved back and forth within said sleeve.

In order that the displacing plunger 22 may be reciprocated in accordance with such reciprocatory movement as is imparted to the operating plunger 25, these two plungers are connected to gether by a flexible, but yet substantially nonextensible, plunger section 32, herein illustrated as comprising a coiled wire cable 34, the convolutions of which intimately engage each other and the outer diameter of which is equal to that of the respective plungers 22 and 26. The connection between the plungers 22 and 26 may be conveniently made, as will be readily understood, by suitably anchoring the opposite ends of the cable 34 to a pair of pin-like shanks 35 and 36 carried by and projecting from the inner ends of the respective plungers in a coaxial relation thereto.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that, since the plunger section 32 is flexible, it will readily follow the curvature of the bent portion of the guide sleeve as the plunger 26 is reciprocated; and that, since the flexible section 32 is substantially non-extensible, the plunger 22 will be reciprocated in accordance with and to the extent of such longitudinal displacement as may be imparted to the plunger 26.

The tool herein illustrated as an embodiment of the present invention may be employed to advantage in removing a tire from its associated wheel rim by placing the socket-like cup 12 over the valve stem 14, as shown in Fig. 2, and then projecting the tool through the valve-stem opening l8 while the outer end of the plunger 22 engages the outer or cap-end of the valve-stem M. The enlarged cup or shaped end I2 of the instrument is an important element in its construction in that it insures the guiding of the valve stem inwardly in a straight line in the first instance and thereafter permitting said stem to be tilted sidewise, without becoming locked in the end of the tube, and finally readily ejected by the plunger 22.

By reason of the engagement that is maintained between the plunger 22 and the valve stem I4 as the cup l2 enters the tire IS, the inner tube l5 may be collapsed, as shown in Fig. 3, to a sufficient extent to permit the valve stem to assume a position wholly within the tire, whereupon the tool is tilted and the plunger 26 is displaced by moving the cross-handle 21 toward the cross-handle ll against the action of the spring 28. Such displacement of the plunger 28 causes a corresponding displacement of the plunger 22,

with the result that the valve-stem i4 is ejected from the cup [2 and simultaneously moved to an off-center position with relation to the valvestem opening 18, thus lodging the valve-stem wholly within the tire so that tire, after removing the tool from the opening [8, may be dismounted from its associated wheel rim I! without subjecting the valve-stem to possible damage in carrying out the tire-removing process.

Although only one form of the invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that various changes may be made with respect to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

Avalve-stem tool for backing a valve-stem into a rim mounted tire and for lodging the same therein and comprising a guide sleeve bent at an obtuse angle intermediate its length, the forward end of which is frustro conical shaped to receive the valve-stem normally protruding from the valve stem opening in the rim said forward end adapted to be introducedinto the tire by way of said valve-stem opening, a displacing plunger slidably mounted within the inner end of said sleeve and adapted to engage the outer end of said valve-stein as said sleeve is introduced into the tire by way of said valve-stem opening, whereby said valve-stem is backed into said tire, plunger actuating means at the outer end of the sleeve, and a flexible connection between the plunger and the actuating means for displacing said plunger longitudinally of itself while engaging said valve-stem and while said sleeve, after being introduced into the tire, is tilted with respect to the longitudinal axis of said valve-stein so that said valve-stern may be ejected from the frustro conical end of said sleeve under the action of said plunger and simultaneously moved thereby to an off-center position with relation to said valve-estem opening.

WILLIE W. WALDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,415,865 Brown May 16, 1922 1,508,725 Schloesser Sept. 16, 1924 1,539,221 Tenant May 26, 1925 1,798,221 Porwoll Mar. 31, 1931 

